Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - red-eye flight|又中又英


It’s been one year since I left Hong Kong to return to the US. I took a red-eye flight on August 16 2021 for Los Angeles. As I explained before, the American slang word “red-eye” means a flight that takes off late at night. That flight is still fresh in my mind. If something is fresh in your mind it means you remember it clearly. My red-eye flight to Los Angeles a year ago will always be fresh in my mind because I was leaving the city I was born in. I didn’t know at the time, and still don’t know, when I will return to Hong Kong to visit relatives and friends.

I really want to return to Hong Kong for short visits but I don’t want to risk being sent to Penny’s Bay if I test positive for the coronavirus when I arrive or during my one-week quarantine. Sooner or later, Hong Kong will have to re-open to the world. Its economy will take a big hit if it delays re-opening. To take a big hit means to be affected by a lot of damage or loss. My one year back in the US has given me the opportunity to rediscover America. I have travelled across the country several times staying in hotels or with relatives in California, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York.

I left New York City two weeks ago and am now back at my niece’s house in Atlanta, Georgia. Next month I will travel to Washington DC where I lived and worked for six years in the 1990s before returning to Hong Kong for the 1997 reunification. I am on the fence where I will go after Washington DC. To be on the fence means to be undecided what you will do next. There are many exciting places in the world I would like to live in.
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我離開香港回到美國,已經有一年了。我是二○二一年八月十六日乘搭「紅眼」航班(red-eye flight)到洛杉磯的。正如我之前解釋過的,美國俚語“red-eye”是指深夜起飛的航班。那一程機仍是 fresh in my mind——若某事情是 fresh in your mind,那即是你對那件事仍是記憶猶新。我一年前遠赴洛杉磯的紅眼航班(red-eye flight)總是歷歷在目(fresh in my mind),因為我那時要離開我出生的城市。那時候我不知道,到現在還是不知道,我何時會回到香港探望親友。

我真的很想回到香港短暫逗留,但我可不想冒險,在抵港之時或接受一星期隔離檢疫期間,對新冠病毒測試呈陽性反應,而被送到竹篙灣。香港早晚需要重新向世界開放,若然再延後重開,它的經濟將會take a big hit ——to take a big hit是指大受打擊、損失慘重。我這一年回到美國,給了我一個重新發現美國的機會。我數度穿州過省,遊歷了加州、德州、佐治亞州、印第安納州、特拉華州、賓夕凡尼亞州及紐約,都是住在酒店又或親戚的家中。

兩星期前,我離開了紐約市,現在回到了我侄女在佐治亞州亞特蘭大的屋中。下個月我將會到華盛頓特區,那是我為了一九九七香港回歸而返港之前,於九十年代居住和工作了六年的地方。而在華盛頓特區之後,我又會到哪裏,我是 on the fence——to be on the fence是指猶豫不決,抱持觀望態度。世上還有許多有趣的地方我想住住看。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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